I’ll come straight out and admit the prospect of using a Windows Phone has not truly excited me in the past. I’ve been a solid iPhone user for over 5 years. For me, nothing against Android or Windows or anything else, I’ve simply never switched because of the apps and amount of money I’ve spent in the App Store with my phone and iPad. I’m not a stickler for sticking with a certain mobile OS, it just made sense for me to. That was my biggest hurdle getting over with using the Nokia Lumia 928, but I’ll get to that later.
To force myself to break away from the comfortable and the norm, I took advantage of a situation and used the Nokia Lumia 928 as my only phone for a week, and documented it during my real-time review: DAYS OF IPHONE PAST: iPhone vs Windows Phone 8.1
The Phone
The phone itself, I’ll come out and admit, I loved it. I thought the larger size would throw me off, but it didn’t. I really came to enjoy the larger size and screen that the phone offered. It’s really a goofy point to make, but I also liked the white backing of the phone against the black face. I don’t know why, as I’ve always hated the white iPhone and swear I’ll never get one, I enjoyed the white on the Lumia.
When actually using the phone itself, I have zero complaints with the performance of the phone. Never experienced any lag in loading things, it was fast and responsive. The screen was amazing. I don’t know if it was simply because it was bigger, but I have an iPhone 5s, and it felt like the Lumia’s screen was sharper all around, in all aspects. I never had any problems viewing the screen during the day or night.
The Camera
What I might end up missing the most from using the phone is the camera and the flash, particularly in low light situations. The flash on the phone is crazy good. The camera took great pictures and video, and the photos were sharp and vibrant and the colors were accurate. What makes the camera head and shoulders above is the ability it has to take pictures in low light and at night. I went from just avoiding taking low light photos to trying to find new things to photograph at dusk and late.
The Battery
The battery life wasn’t bad at all for me. However I admit I use my phones different than possibly the average daily user, and I’m nearly always near a power source, my phones rarely die, and when I’m in the car, they are usually plugged in, so I never experienced any issues with battery life. If I was to guess, average battery life for someone would probably last through the day, with charging nightly.
The OS and Apps
The biggest hang-up and hurdle I had with the phone was actually using the OS. I have a developer account so I was able to update the phone to Windows Phone 8.1, which from what I’ve read and understood was the way to go. It’s completely a different world from iOS, and in some ways that proved to be a plus. The live tiles were something to get used to, but once I had arranged my home screen the way I liked it, I was golden.
The Notification Center in Windows Phone 8.1 made the transition from iOS that much easier for me as I’m accustomed to using the Notification Center on my iPhone and iPad. While some aspects of the mobile OS that I wasn’t a fan of, namely the larger text, the biggest downfall I found from the phone was the lack of apps available, especially ones that I would consider “mainstream” that I have available on my iPhone. Instagram is only in beta. I wasn’t a fan of the official Twitter or Tumblr app, and I did not have an app for my bank.
Overall…
Overall, the Nokia Lumia 928 was a good, enjoyable phone, and I could easily see myself using it and moving away from my iPhone if certain apps were available and I was able to adjust certain things within the iOS. (Seriously, it felt like a grandma phone with all the large text) I realize for most, Windows Phone 8.1 doesn’t come out for a few more weeks, and if I was anyone shopping I’d try to hold out. The notification center could be a game changer to get some people to move over and giving a Windows Phone a try. I’m simply sticking with my iPhone because of certain aspects and functions in my life (I get more into this in the podcast episode related to this review, which you can listen to below), if it wasn’t for that, the Nokia Lumia 928 would still be in my pocket.
Nokia Lumia 928 Specs
• Network: Verizon
• OS: Windows Phone 8
• CPU: 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4
• Screen: 4.5-inch 1280×768 PureMotion OLED (334PPI)
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 32GB
• Camera: 8.7MP rear / 1.2MP front
• Battery: 2000 mAh
• Dimensions: 5.24 x 2.71 x 0.44 inches
• Weight: 5.71 ounces
For more, listen to The Geekasms Podcast: Episode 2 - A Week with a Nokia Lumia
http://podcast.haveageekasm.com/Geekasms/2014/TGP-Ep2.mp3
